Electric-railway system.



No. 781,431. V PATENTED JAN. 31, 1905.

' F. E.-KINSMA N.

- ELECTRIC RAILWAY SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 8, 1903A UNITED STATES Patented January 31, 1905..

PATENT OFFICE."

ELECTRIC-RAILWAY SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 781,431, dated January31, 1905.

Application filed December 8, 1903. Serial No. 184,268.

To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known thatI, FRANK E .KINsMAN, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Plainfield, in the county of Union and State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and.

useful Improvements in Electric-Railway Systems, of which the followingis specification. This invention relates to an electric-railway system;and the principal object of the invenreceiving the full working currentthrough the short-circuit formed by his body. Such third-rail'sy'stemsare chiefly used on elevated structures and are most dangerous at suchtimes, as the line of way may be temporarily blocked because of anaccident or otherwise,

and the passengers may desire or be compelled to leave the cars or trainand make their way along the tracks to the nearest station. such timesespecially there is, so far as I am aware, no means 'now employed forpreventing the short-circuiting of the working and return conductors bypassengers unfamiliar with the operation of .the third-rail systems. Thedanger of accident is also present whenever an accident occurs not duedirectly to stepping on the working and return conductors, as isevidenced by the large number of fatalities in recent collisions andother acci dents on elevated third-rail systems.

Inmy system I reduce the danger factor to a minimum by so organizing thesystem as to make it impossible for a person to form a short circuit bywalking on theexposed work ing conductor or third rail and thetrack-rail nearest thereto, and I accomplish this by providing areturn-path for'the current at a point relatively remote from theworking conductor or third rail. This return-path may be formeddiflicult for any one, even intentionally, to

form a short circuitby stepping on the third rail and a track-rail, asno such short circuit will be formed by stepping on the third rail andthe track-rail adjacent thereto, and the distance between thethird railand that trackrail which constitues a part of the return-cirthe same byany person unless extra efforts to do so are made.

Other features of my invention not hereinbefore referred to will behereinafter described, and pointed out in the appended vcuit is so greatas to preclude the spanning of claims, and are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in whicl Flgure l is a diagrammat c View of anelectric-railway system or third-rail system embodying my invention andhaving a metallic return-conductor. Fig. 2 is a detail illustrating onemodeof electrically connecting a re turn-feeder to one of thetrack-rails.

Similar characters designate like parts in both the figures ofthedrawings.

In carrying my invention into effect it should be understood that l-mayapply it to any eX- isting type of railway system, whether the workingconductor be an exposed trolley-wire, a third-rail, a working conductorcontained in a conduit, or any other type of conductor for supplyingcurrent to a motor on a vehicle traveling on a line of way. I have,however, illustrated the invention in connection with a third-railsystem, for the reason that this is the most dangerous so far as theshort-circuiting of the same by an individual is concerned.

The track-rails of a line ofway are indicated in Fig. 1 by r and r, andthe working con ductor or third rail is shown at t. This workingconductor orlthird rail will receive current in the usual manner fromoutgoing feeders,

one of which is shown at f leading from a suitable source of supply,such as m, and from this third rail current will be taken by a suitablecurrent-collector, such as s, carried on the vehicle, one axle of whichis indicatedat 2. From the current-collector or shoe 8 the current foroperating the vehicle will pass through the usual circuit on the vehicleand will leave the vehicle in the usual manner through the axles andwheels thereof. In these diagrams only the field-coils 3 and thearmature 4 of the circuit on the vehicle are shown, all of the otherelements ordinarily contained in such a circuit being omitted for thesake of simplicity and clearness. It should be understood, however, thatthis circuit from the current-collector or shoe to the axles and wheelsof the vehicle or train may contain any or all of the various devicesordinarily in use in electrically-propelled cars or trains. From theaxles of the vehicle the circuit in my present system follows a somewhatdilferent course, even through the wheels, than it does in the ordinaryelectric-railway system. The reason for this is that only a singletrack-rail is connected in or forms part of the return-path for thecurrent as it leaves the vehicle. The trackrail which does form part ofsuch returnpath is in this case the track-rail '1" remote from thethird-rail 2,, and the track-rail 0' does not form any part of suchreturn-path, it being divided at suitable intervals by insulation, asshown, into insulated sections, whereas in the usual systems having anearth return the current passes to earth through both trackrails and thesystem may be short-circuited by stepping on the third-rail and on therail r. In my improved system, however, it will be seen that a shortcircuit cannot be established between the rails 25 and 0' and that thelife of a passenger or employee will not be in danger unless he bridgesthe gap between the rails t and w. These rails are so far apart that itis almost impossibleto establish such a short circuit by stepping onthese rails. Hence a person walking on an elevated structure or anyother embodying a third-rail system in which the third rail is locatedoutside the track-rails will run practically no risk from thehigh-tension current in such systems. The metallic returncircuit may beestablished through any suitable return-conductor connected at suitableintervals and by suitable conductors, such as 5, to the track-rail a"remote from the third rail 2?. This return-feeder 0 passes directly backto the source of energy or powerhouse and constitutes, with the outgoingfeeder f, the third-rail 25, connected to such outgoing feeder, thetraveling current-collector or shoe 8, the circuit on the vehicle, andthe axles, wheels, and track-rail of that side of the line of way remotefrom the third-rail t, a complete metallic circuit. Not only is such asystem an exceptionally safe one as compared With all other third-railsystems known to me,

but it is also a much more economical system in operation because of thegreater conductivity of the metallic return-circuit as compared with theordinary earth return.

The particular construction and mode of connecting the metallic returnconductor or feeder 0 may be varied within wide limits; but I have shownthe return-feeder in Fig. 2 as a copper bar mounted directlyon thetrackrail r and connected thereto at suitable intervals by a conductiveconnection (designated generally by 5) the main element of which may bea screw-bolt 5, preferably having a round head and held in place by aclamp-nut or check-nut, (or both), such as 5, also preferably round, theround head of the bolt and the round nut or nuts having peripheralopenings or recesses for receiving a pin to turn the same. Thisconductive connection is preferably insulated at all points where it isnot in contact with the feeder e or with the track-rail r, theinsulating material being so disposed as to constitute an air-tight, andespecially a water-tight, casing or seal for preventing electrolysisbetween the copper and iron or steel elements so connected. This Iregard as an important feature of my invention, and I have shown at 6,'7, 8, 9, and 10, respectively,aninsulating-washer between the feederand the track-rail, an insulating-washcr between thetrack-rail and thenut 5, another insulating-washer between the feeder and the head of theconnecting-bolt 5, an insulatingcap 9, covering the head of thebolt, andan insulating-cap 10 inclosing the threaded end of the bolt and the nutor nuts thereof, the two caps 9 and 10 being preferably threaded overand into engagement with the washers 7 and 8. Any other suitable meansmay be 'en'iploycd, however, for conductively connecting the track-railwith the return -feeder and surrounding with an air-tight andwater-tight casing the contacting iron and copper surfaces.

What I claim is 1. The combination with the track-rails of a line ofway, one of which rails is divided into insulated sections electricallyisolated from the remainder of the system; and with an electricallypropelled vehicle movable along said track-rails, of a workingconductor, a source of electric energy, and a returnconductorelectrically connected with the other of said track-rails and formingtherewith and with said working conductor and the source of energy ametallic circuit.

2. In a railway system embodying trackrails, the combination with anelectricallypropelled vehicle movable along said trackrails, of anoutgoing feeder, a third rail of large cross-section constituting aworking conductor connected therewith, a source of electric energy, anda return-feeder forming with said third rail the outgoing feeder and thesource of energy a metallic circuit.

3. The combination with the track-rails of a line of way and with anelectrically-propelled vehicle movable therealong, of an outgoingfeeder, a third rail connected therewith, .a source of electric energy,and a return-feeder electrically connected with one only of said otherrail only of said line of way and'forming therewith and with said thirdrail the outgoing feeder and the source'of energy a metallic circuit.

5. The combination with the track-rails of a line of way and with anelectrically-propelled vehicle movable therealong, of anoutgoing feeder,a third rail connected therewith and located outside one of the rails ofthe line of way, a source of electric energy, and a retu rn-feederelectrically connected with the other rail only of saidline of way andlocated. outside said rail and forming therewith and with said thirdrail the outgoing feeder and the source of energy a metallic circuit;

- 6. The combination with the track-rails of a line of Way and with anelectrically-propelled vehicle movable therealong, of an outgoingfeeder, a third rail connected therewith and located outside one of therails of the line of way, acurrent-collector carried by said vehicle andadapted to make traveling contact with said third rail, a sourceofelectrie energy, and a return-feeder electrically connected, with theother rail only of said line of way and located outside said rail andforming therewith and with the wheels of the vehicle thecurrent-collector the third rail the outgoing feeder and the source ofenergy a complete metallic circuit.

7. The combination with the track-rails of a line of way and with anelectrically-pro' pelled vehicle movable therealong, of an outgoingfeeder, a working conductor connected therewith, a source of electricenergy, and a return-feeder supported independently of the outgoingfeederand the working conductor and between the tread and the flange ofone of the track-rails and electrically connected with said rail andforming therewith and with said working conductor the outgoing feederand the source of energy a metallic circuit. i

8. The combination with the track-rails of a line of way and with anelectrically-propelled vehicle movable therealong, of apowercircuit-governing the movement of said vehicle and including areturn-feeder supported between the tread and the flange of one of thetrack-rails and electrically connected to said track-rails by aconductive connector insulated at all points except where it is inelectrical connectioniwi'ththe return-feeder and said track-rails.

Signed at New York. in the county of New Y0rk and State of New. York,this 7th day of

